Bumped on Facebook

I posted a link on Facebook regarding the Jesus Manifesto, and another user posted "we need to sign something for salvation now?". What a misunderstanding.

I posted "Did I mention salvation being dependent on this? It is actually a step away from dependence on human structures, and a step toward humble service to Jesus. Please feel free to actually read the site, and the other sites Frank Viola is involved in. I highly recommend his book Pagan Christianity (with George Barna) and also "Reimagining Church". See web site http://www.reimaginingchurch.org/ to get an overview. This stuff can strip religion from your life and help you see and serve Jesus more clearly." and then "Go on, look at http://www.paganchristianity.org/".

If you have not looked at these sites, see the links at the right of this page. It will be well worth your time :)

If you go...

If we go overseas on mission, how should we behave? How should we dress, act, share, spend etc? How will the locals feel about us? Will they think we are really helping, or will they think prosperous westerners are there again to make themselves feel good about "giving to the poor", after which they will go home and forget them?

Certainly dress is more of a sensitive point in some cultures. Ethiopia, which is largely Orthodox Christian, is one nation where a conservative approach is best. Why? Because showing flesh will offend the locals. Well meaning western Christians who are in a media and sexuality saturated culture, who go into a conservative culture like Ethiopia, can really stumble in their witness if  they take popular western dress. Who's right? Who's wrong? You'd have to look at the bible to understand what is godly and what's not. Standards set by Hebrew culture, which is clearly the closest we have to that set by God himself, certainly look more like conservative Ethiopia that modern U.S.A., Canada or Australia!

Behaviour is something we need to be sensitive about. In some countries, it is socially acceptable and even popular, for men to hold hands as they as they are in public as a sign of friendship; but it is not OK for male/female couples to do the same. Exactly the reverse of most western countries! It is good to research, get advice and then act with sensitivity, putting the credibility of your witness before your own wants.

What can we share? What will edify rather than offend the recipient? This is not just influenced by culture, but also social status, gender relationship and other factors. There are so many situations possible that consultation as interactions arise or "on the job learning" is a good approach.

Spending is another factor. Even buying a meal, a simple piece of clothing, soft drink or lollies may be minor expenditure to us, but how would we feel if someone visited from a really rich part of town for a few weeks and every day blew more than our days wage on luxuries? Putting our feet in their shoes will certainly make us more sensitive and less likely to cause offence.

The tendency tourists and even new or short-term missionaries have to land on a culture without enough preparedness to ensure their witness is not denigrated by insensitive behaviour is an unfortunate one. We hear much of the insensitivity of tourists; let's work to ensure we as Christians on mission have better track record.

To Go or To Give? - That's The Question

Many of us when we become interested in a need or a country decide we would like to go and help, which is an admirable intention. The question is, would it be better to go or to give from where we are? So what's in it for them, and what's in it for you?

Let's look at it from the aspiring missionary's point of view first.  If you go, you get to use your skills to help. If you stay, you get to send your money. From a skills justification point of view, we'd be fairly certain that the skill you have could probably be hired at or near the mission site. There would be some exceptions for sure, but some remote advice may help get things across the line. Then we need to question if "bang for buck" it's a good proposition to go if no one else can do the proposed task. Fairly clinical I know, but it's good to do some serious navel gazing some times :)

From the recipients' point of view, a bucket of money they can govern themselves may or may not be a good idea. If the mission is established with sufficient governance to ensure finds are used well then that's great; if not, there is risk of the funds being wasted or even misappropriated. A mitigation for this risk is again someone near the mission who can intervene and assist if necessary in an administrative manner.

So where does this leave us? Does it take the wind out of your sails? Does it look like only long term mission and not short term is viable? Let's think again. How do people get a taste for long term mission and confirm their calling? They get a taste by going on short term mission of course!

The bottom line here? I personally don't believe in short term mission trips as a "nice experience". I don't believe is "mission holidays". Going to a south sea island is a nice experience for sure. If you are going on holidays anyway, I guess it's good to help a bit. Going on a "mission trip" and treating it as a holiday too? That's more difficult.

To me, the best way to do mission is to really concentrate on mission. Go to serve. Go to confirm the impression in your heart that YHWH is calling you to a longer term, more effective commitment. It is my sincere opinion that time is short for this world. We can ignore the times; run and hide; or go and help. If you have not been on a mission trip, please pray about going. If you haved been, please pray about going for longer!

The poor are happy

It is a real challenge to me seeing people who have nothing being happy in life. That is not to say they couldn't use a leg up; a bit of finance; some health care etc.; but many are content with what they have and value the important things in life without the myriad of distractions and candy coated disappointment we face here in the west. So here are some faces. Some of these people just wanted me to take their photo, others I chatted to, others I talked to in more depth...

A Challenge to be Happy

Many of us have heard people who come back from visiting 'developing countries' say they "don't know why we have so much stuff", or "didn't realise I had it so good". That is certainly my experience.

We lived in caravans on a farm for several months prior to going to Ethiopia in order to try and save money to help pay for the trip. I guess this minimal lifestyle, having very little around us, being challenged with facilities and doing it rough, helped prepare us for the trip.
Still, however, we are back in Australia, I have a disability pension coming (although the level of monetary support is a bad  joke), and we have a roof over our heads thanks to some friends. So as we acclimatise to Australia again, what are the people we met left with? Here are some '3rd World' photos that show their living conditions...

 

 

God provides

Coming back to Brisbane after being on an overseas mission team has been interesting. Last time we came back, from HongKong/China, we came back to our own home and job, and good circumstances. This time, we have come back to see the impact of the massive floods on Brisbane, to find our sort of home at the farm wrecked by mold and rats, and to financial challenges.

We have stayed with a dear friend and her children for a few weeks, but have felt it best to move if possible soon. Tonight, God has provided. We move in with another family with more space tomorrow.

Where to from here? We don't know. We only know we feel called to missions, particularly Ethiopia at this stage, and YHWH will need to provide health and finance if we are to go again. We also need some stable family accommodation,  but the waiting list for government housing is a year long even if you have multiple disabilities in your family.

God knows. He enables and provides according to our calling. We can see some weeks ahead. We will trust for beyond that, because in His hands, we are Lumps of Clay.

Making a start

Tonight I have put up my first page. It's about Ethiopia. I plan to blog from there. It's a start. I hope you find it interesting. I hope it makes you think :)